Details of some birds you might expect to see throughout the year and some rarities which have turned up in the past can be found within the habitats page of this site.


The birds recorded below include records of sightings and also of birds which have been caught and recorded as part of the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) Ringing Programme.

February

7th February: The only news concerns a Brambling visiting a Berrow bird feeder.

6th February: Just the smallest of improvements at Berrow with the first 12 Ringed Plover of the year there. Sanderling numbers were up to 50 whilst standard fare included 15 Curlew and 100 Dunlin

5th February: The Brue and Parrett estuaries produced 2,000+ Wigeon, 100+ Teal, 70 Curlew, 75 Oystercatcher, 15 Bar Tailed Godwit, 5 Avocet, 83 Redshank, 92 Turnstone, 1,200 Lapwing and c6,000 Dunlin. Apex held the usual 2 Pochard and Red Crested Pochard and also for the first time this year 3 Great Crested Grebe.

4th February: Pretty poor reward at Berrow again with 50 Curlew, 12 Oystercatcher, 200 Dunlin, 10 Sanderling and 28 Linnet.

3rd February: A day of near constant rain. The only news concerns a report of a Marsh Harrier being chased by gulls as it headed north over Burnham.

2nd February: Since the onset of the cold weather there have been no sightings of Great Crested Grebe at Apex, so it was nice to confirm a pair still in residence nearby on the small lake at Morlands estate. The  2 Pochard and Red Crested Pochard remain in residence at Apex.

1st February: Low tide at the Axe estuary produced 250 Teal, 3 Wigeon, 80 Curlew and c100 Redshank. Fieldfare totalled around 500 at Berrow church this morning. The only other snippet of news concerns a Mistle Thrush on Red road playing fields.

January

31st January: The Green Winged Teal was still on the Axe estuary. Other sightings in the near vicinity included a Merlin, 600+ Lapwing, a handful of Golden Plover and 1 Jack Snipe. Birding at Berrow continues to produce little reward with waders represented by 2 Curlew, 12 Oystercatcher, singles of Sanderling and Redshank and 800+ Dunlin. The Red Crested Pochard remains at Apex together with 2 Pochard.

30th January: The Green-winged Teal was back on the Axe Estuary this morning in company with 120 Teal. Also there were 3 Ringed Plover and a Common Sandpiper. 2 Jack Snipe were flushed from the adjacent saltmarsh. The rather friendly Red Crested Pochard remains in residence at Apex lakes where there were also 2 Pochard.

29th January: No news today.

28th January: No news today.

27th January: No news today.

26th January: No news today.

25th January: No news today.

24th January: The Red-crested Pochard remains at Apex, and a drake Gadwall and a Shoveler on the Brue Estuary was all that could be mustered.

 23rd January: Not particularly exciting news today. Numbers on the Axe Estuary included 450 Teal, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Wigeon and 500 Dunlin. At Berrow there were 2000 Dunlin, 34 Curlew, 14 Oystercatcher and 25 Sanderling.

22nd January: Very wet, becoming foggy and wet with a brief dry spell before more rain. It eventually stopped raining in the afternoon but remained dull. So did the birds. Red-crested Pochard still taking bread at Apex, but no other news to get excited about.

21st January: A few interesting duck at the Brue estuary with a pair of Shoveler, a drake Gadwall and 2 drake Tufted Duck along with 48 Wigeon and 25 Teal. Waders were represented by c3,000 Dunlin over Stert Island, 45 Oystercatcher on the Parrett estuary, 54 Redshank and 4 Turnstone in the Brue estuary

20th January: A dismal day of constant rain. The only snippet of news concerns the continued presence of the Red Crested Pochard at Apex, together with a Little Grebe and a Pochard.

19th January: The 2 Avocets were still on the Axe estuary, together with a sprinkling of Redshank and Dunlin. Only 150 Teal and 6 Wigeon could be found. Berrow held 25 Sanderling, 33 Oystercatcher and 29 Curlew. The Red Crested Pochard was still at Apex.

18th January: All the news comes from the Axe estuary where the Green Winged Teal remained with 526 Teal. The 2 Avocets were also still present but not surprisingly the Smew appears to have moved on. Other waders there included 53 Oystercatcher, 86 Curlew, 2 Bar Tailed Godwit, 90+ Redshank, 1,000+ Lapwing, 2 Sanderling and 300 Dunlin.

17th January: All the action was at the Axe estuary today with the discovery of a drake Green Winged Teal and a redhead Smew amongst at least 1,000 Teal. 2 Avocet were also on show in the estuary mouth. Other birds there included 200 Wigeon, 200 Redshank, 85 Curlew, 40 Snipe, 2 Jack Snipe, in excess of 1,000 Lapwing and 3 Golden Plover. An Otter was watched swimming across the river Axe at Brean sluice. Berrow produced 20 Curlew, 33 Oystercatcher, 1 Bar Tailed Godwit, 29 Sanderling, 5,000 Dunlin, 600 Fieldfare and 2 Coal Tit.

16th January: A few interesting birds today particularly at Brean / Axe area which produced singles of Avocet, (possibly 2)  Water Pipit and a drake Goosander. The Red Crested Pochard remained at Apex together with the Pochard and Tufted Duck. A pair of Gadwall were on the adjacent Brue estuary.

15th January: At Berrow there were 15 Oystercatcher, 3 Redshank, 24 Knot, 7 Sanderling and 2,500 Dunlin. Fieldfare numbers are still high with well in excess of 1,000 present. Brean / Axe produced 1 Black Tailed Godwit and 15 Golden Plover. A number of presumed Winter Moth were on the wing along Red road.

14th January: The Great Bustard (wing tag 22) showed well again this afternoon in fields adjacent to the Axe estuary. Also there were 20 Golden Plover and 9 Snipe. The Red Crested Pochard, Tufted Duck and Pochard remained at Apex. Nearby 2 Grey Plover were on Burnham beach.

13th January: The Great Bustard was relocated this afternoon associating with Mute Swans on the fields by the Axe estuary behind Warren farm. A late afternoon visit to Apex lakes produced the surprise of the day in the form of a drake Red Crested Pochard. Also present were single drake Pochard and Tufted Duck. Elsewhere, the bushes and fields still hold good numbers of winter Thrushes and Lapwings. Skylark were also more conspicuous than usual. Also noted were 60 Curlew. From Brean sluice 300 Wigeon were on view together with 3 Shoveler.

12th January: Quiet today. The Axe estuary produced 300 Wigeon  a Spotted Redshank and 2 Black Tailed Godwit, whilst at Berrow only very small numbers of the commonest waders could be seen over low tide.

11th January: A wing tagged Great Bustard was watched flying over fields by Diamond farm, before settling on the Weston side of the Axe estuary. At Berrow today there was 1 female Tufted Duck, 19 Curlew, 37 Oystercatcher, 2 Bar Tailed Godwit, 19 Redshank, 5 Sanderling and 1,000 Dunlin.

10th January: A thorough count of the thrushes in the dume system from Burnham to Berrow LNR revealed 3,500 Fieldfare, 2,300 Redwing, 500 Song Thrush and 200 Blackbird. Other sightings at Berrow included 17 Curlew, 38 Oystercatcher, 1 Bar Tailed Godwit, 15 Redshank, 5 Sanderling, 1,000+ Dunlin, 2 Snipe and a Mistle Thrush. On the Axe estuary there were 300 Wigeon, 2 Black Tailed Godwit and 2,600 Dunlin.

9th January: Large numbers of thrushes are inhabiting the entire dune buckthorn strip with well in excess of 1,000 Fieldfare and slightly fewer Redwing. At Berrow LNR the highlight was a male Merlin with a supporting cast including Water Rail, Buzzard, Snipe, 25 Linnet, good numbers of Chaffinch and a Goldcrest. 200+ Lapwing flew south. A Woodcock was flushed from the Brean area. The cold weather has seen an increase in Reed Bunting numbers visiting a Berrow garden with a maximum of 23. A local wildlife group visited Berrow this morning and reported 40 Wigeon, 3 Tufted Duck, 1 Bar Tailed Godwit, 8 Sanderling, 1 Mistle Thrush, 50 Skylark and a Woodlark. Late news concerns 2 Goldeneye flying north up the Parrett to the mouth of the Brue estuary, where a Tufted Duck was also present.

8th January: Fieldfare outnumbered Redwing today at Berrow with up to 600 present. Lapwing were on the move again with over 300 south. Berrow beach held 10 Curlew and 600 Dunlin. 2 Mistle Thrush in Burnham are noteworthy.

7th January: Movement had diminished to just 20 Skylark and 30 Lapwing. Large numbers of Redwing were present at Berrow with in excess of 500.

6th January: The area saw its heaviest snowfall for nearly 30 years overnight and this morning. The resultant cold weather movement included 2,500 Lapwing, 100+ Golden Plover, 3 Snipe, 370 Skylark, 350 Woodpigeon, 100 Redwing and a few Meadow Pipit. Elsewhere there was a Woodcock at a Brean caravan park, 30 Snipe, 1 Jack Snipe,  600 Lapwing and 60 Skylark around the Axe/Brean farm area. Brean beach held 1,000 Dunlin, 60 Oystercatcher and 40 Sanderling. At Berrow beach there were c.2,000 Dunlin, 2 Curlew, 1 Turnstone and 5 Redshank. The only other reports concern a Gadwall on the Axe estuary and 2 Kingfisher in Burnham.

5th January: A few more birds included 70 Curlew on the Brue estuary with 30 at Berrow. 94 Oystercatcher were on Stert island whilst a single Bar Tailed Godwit was on the Axe estuary. Only small numbers of Redshank could be found on the Brue, whilst 5 Sanderling were at Berrow. An adult Mediterranean Gull was also on Berrow beach. Around Brean farm there were 550 Lapwing, 20 Golden Plover and 15 Snipe.

4th January: Little to report other than 15 Curlew at Berrow, 76 Oystercatcher at the Parrett estuary and a single Siskin at Apex. Disappointingly, no wildfowl appear to have been displaced from the local reservoirs by the cold weather.

3rd January: Berrow beach remains extremely quiet with just 33 Oystercatcher, 190 Dunlin and 1 Turnstone over high tide. The recent cold weather has seen an increase in Thrush numbers with combined counts from Berrow LNR and Ford common of 450 Fieldfare, 250 Redwing, 65 Blackbird and 30 Song Thrush. The LNR also held 13 Blackcap. The fields around Ford common held 300+ Lapwing, 80 Golden Plover and 6 Stock Dove. At least 1 Black Redstart remains at Brean cove.

2nd January: At the Brue estuary there were 134 Snipe, 1 Jack Snipe and a Spotted Redshank. Berrow beach hosted 32 Curlew, 74 Oystercatcher, 13 Sanderling and 200 Dunlin. The 2 Black Redstart were still at Brean cove.

1st January: A very quiet start to the year. 2 Black Redstart remain at Brean down cove, where there were also 25 Sanderling on the beach. Berrow produced 1 Redshank, 16 Oystercatcher, 22 Sanderling, 200 Dunlin and 2 Raven.